What does 'legacy' mean in this sentence?

[finefeeling]

Dear all,

Could someone kindly help out? I'm trying to translate a report title called ''Impact of Ventilation of Fire Behavior in Legacy and Contemporary Residential Construction''. Does legacy mean traditional?

Many thanks.

finefeeling

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes. Residential constructions which were made at any time before "contemporary".

Are you sure it's "Impact of Ventilation of Fire Behavior"? "On" would seem to make more sense there.

 

[Raymott]

'Legacy' means surviving from the past. This might give you a clue:
“When we use the word legacy in the fire service it usually is meant to describe dimensional lumber that was used to up about 1980” The page gives more context.
http://www.modernfirefighting.com/building-construction

 

[tedmc]

May I know what 'dimensional lumber' means?

 

[Raymott]

May I know what 'dimensional lumber' means?

"Dimensional lumber is a term used for lumber that is cut to standardized width and depth specified in inches. Carpenters extensively use dimensional lumber in framing wooden buildings. Examples of common sizes are 2×4(pictured) (also two-by-four and other variants, such as four-by-two in the UK, Australia, New Zealand), 2×6, and 4×4."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumber#Dimensional_lumber

 

[tedmc]

Probably sawn timber in layman's term.